Cybersecurity experts launch smart city research center

Cybersecurity experts launch smart city research center

Cybersecurity industry leaders have joined together to launch a non-profit to secure smart cities of the future -- and present. The organization, Securing Smart Cities, is bringing together many industry leaders to solve cybersecurity challenges that smart cities face through collaboration and information sharing, according to Kaspersky Lab, who is leading the project.

"The group will serve as a communications node for companies, governments, media outlets, not-for-profit initiatives, and individuals across the world involved in the creation, improvement, and promotion of smart and safe technologies for modern cities," the lab said in a statement.

The initiative's goal is to protect smart cities through cybersecurity research in many ways, including:

Educating smart city planners and providers on the importance and cost benefits of security best practices; Collaborating with partners to share ideas and methodologies; Endorsing the significance and benefits of introducing security early into the development lifecycle of a project or plan; Fostering partnerships between cities, providers, and the security community; And creating standards, guidelines, and resources to help improve cybersecurity across all areas related to smart cities

"The concept of a smart city is very topical, and many organizations are working on intelligent solutions to make urban areas energy efficient, comfortable, environmentally friendly, and physically safe. Unfortunately, far fewer are considering the cybersecurity of these smart cities," Kaspersky Lab said in a statement. "The more IT organizations involved in creating a smart city, the greater the potential risk. If security is not addressed early on, the cost and complexity of a smart city could make it difficult to address problems. In the end, the city would be left vulnerable."

The Smart Cities initiative looks to help share knowledge about cybersecurity to connect vendors of infrastructure automation equipment with security researchers -- with a goal of validating security functions of smart city technology. It is also hoping to create a community of security professionals to help increase cybersecurity research.

"The cybersecurity of a modern, smart city is not something you can solve on your own," said Cesar Cerrudo, CTO for IOActive and board member of Securing Smart Cities, in a statement. "The concept involves so many different technologies communicating with each other in so many ways, that the only way to predict and eliminate all possible security issues is through collaboration between experts around the world. This is what Securing Smart Cities is for."

The initiative is being supported by numerous IT researchers and organizations, including IOActive, Kaspersky Lab, Bastille, and the Cloud Security Alliance.

Patrick Nielsen, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab and board member of the Securing Smart Cities initiative, said "Securing Smart Cities aims to solve cyber-problems at every stage of a smart city's development: from planning through to the actual implementation of smart technologies. We encourage city authorities, equipment and software vendors, as well as security researchers to join the discussion."